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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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VATICAN CITY, JAN 2, 2007 (VIS) - Major Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios Malancharuvil O.I.C. of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars, India, with the consent of the Synod of Bishops and after having consulted the Apostolic See, erected, in accordance with canon 85, para. 1, of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, the eparchy of Mavelikara of the Syro-Malankars (population 2,998,325, Catholics 30,825, priests 75, religious 105), India, with territory taken from Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars, making it a suffragan of the same metropolitan archieparchy.
Major Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios Malancharuvil O.I.C. of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars, with the consent of the Synod of Bishops and after having consulted the Apostolic See, transferred, in accordance with canon 85, para. 2, of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Bishop Joshuah Mar Ignathios Kizhakkeveettil, auxiliary of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars, to the office of first bishop of Mavelikara of the Syro-Malankars.
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Christmas Pastoral Letter of the Apostolic Visitor to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholics in Spain, Italy, and Ireland
Today all things are filled with joy:
Christ is born of the Virgin. (Orthros of the Nativity)
Christ is Born! Give ye glory!
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
Joy is the distinguishing characteristic of the Nativity of Christ. The Angel of the Lord announced to the shepherds: Behold, I tell you a great joy! (Luke 2:10). The Church’s hymns and liturgical chants summon everyone to joy with the Good News: Let heaven and earth make glad today prophetically, angels and men, let us keep spiritual feast! (The Litany, Grand Compline, first sticheron). Those whom God has sent reveal the reason for joy: Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior (Luke 2:11). In very truth Our Savior, the Dayspring from the East, has visited us from on high. (Exaposteilarion, Orthros of the Nativity). The consequences of this joy reach far beyond Bethlehem: Every error of idolatry has ceased, and Christ reigns unto all ages (The Litany, Grand Compline, Theotokion). Salvation has come to the peoples.
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The Nativity of our Savior Jesus Christ dawns upon us each
year to remind us of God's infinite mercy and love for His entire Creation, and
to call us to reflect again on the sublime Mystery of the Divine Incarnation,
without which our salvation would not be possible.
Christmas should constitute, for all of us, an occasion of
spiritual renewal, a moment of meditation on our life, acts, behavior, and on
our commitment to live in Christ.
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Protocol 01/07
January 1, 2007
Feast of Saint Basil and the New Year
To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America
My Beloved Christians,
As Greek Orthodox Christians, we enter this New Year with the joyous celebration of the Feast of Saint Basil, a much beloved and venerated Ecumenical Teacher and Great Hierarch of our Church whose life in the fourth century continues to serve as a model worthy for emulation by all Christians. Saint Basil is revered with a special prominence worldwide in the Holy Orthodox Church for the saintly life which he lived, for his astonishing work, and for his acts of extraordinary kindness and goodwill to the sick, the downtrodden, and the marginalized.
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by Bishop Sarhad Yawsip Jammo
Genesis of a Liturgical Reform: The Chaldean Patriarchal Synod, held in Baghdad on the days between the 14 th and 18 th of January 1992, and presided by his Beatitude Mar Raphael I Bidawid of blessed memory, in accordance with Canon 124 of the Eastern Code, decreed the formation of a Patriarchal Liturgical Committee, to be headed by Mar Andrews Sana (who chaired the Committee until his retirement in 2003), and composed of three experts, the Reverends: Jacques Isaac (now bishop), Mons. Peter Yousif, and Sarhad Jammo (now bishop). Their mandate was to present to the Holy Synod a historical study and a draft of a reform for the Divine Raze and the other sacraments of the Church
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Extracts of the Message are given below:
"'Our Savior is born to the world!' During the night, in our churches, we again heard this message that, notwithstanding the passage of the centuries, remains ever new. ... But does a 'Savior' still have any value and meaning for the men and women of the third millennium? Is a 'Savior' still needed by a humanity which has reached the moon and Mars and is prepared to conquer the universe; for a humanity which knows no limits in its pursuit of nature's secrets and which has succeeded even in deciphering the marvelous codes of the human genome?